NFL: Patriots swing for the fences with Easley and Garoppolo

Nick Caserio, as has been the case the past few years, met with the media about a week in advance of the NFL Draft to take questions on the processes of scouting, selecting and team building.

The annual event is a rare public appearance by Caserio, who joined the Patriots in 2001 and ascended to his current position as director of player personnel six years later. When it comes to drafting collegians and signing free agents, Caserio is second only to czar/coach Bill Belichick in the New England hierarchy.

At the end of one nearly 300-word reply in which Caserio spoke about metrics, systems, roles and progression as they relate to identifying which players best fit your team, came the frank admission, "There's a little bit of hit and miss there."

Ain't that the truth.

The Patriots drafted nine players over three days and seven rounds last week after spending 12 months researching hundreds and hundreds of pro prospects. Bob Kraft will be doing backflips through Patriot Place if half of them are still here in three years.

As is the case in baseball, hitting over .400 in the NFL Draft is a remarkable feat. So the Patriots do their due diligence and, in an attempt to hedge their bets, place a big emphasis on value.

Then they cross their fingers, throw salt over their left shoulder, search for a four-leaf clover, rub a horseshoe and… hope for the best. Because, as Caserio pointed out, "There's no exact science as it relates to this."

So it's best to ignore all the low-Bs and Cs the Patriots received for draft grades from Mel, Todd and other insiders and focus on the approach they took to compiling their class of 2014.

In that regard, they scored high.

After acquiring and retaining a bounty of talent in free agency that solidified their status as an annual Super Bowl contender, the Patriots used the draft to add depth at positions of need and potentially prepare for a couple of high-profile job openings in the not quite-so-distant future.

The first two picks were the most polarizing and, ultimately, will come to define the success of their draft.

Defensive lineman Dominique Easley was a five-star athlete entering Florida and viewed as a top-15 pick before tearing the ACL in both knees. So he fell to the Patriots, who selected him 29th overall.

They love Easley's explosiveness and versatility. He fills a current need, likely being used as a situational interior pass rusher, and a future one, stepping in for, or alongside, Vince Wilfork — presumably as early as next season.

Easley's medical charts scared off a lot of teams, but interestingly enough, one of those wasn't the reigning Super Bowl champions.

The Seattle Seahawks reportedly were set to take Easley, only to trade the 32nd overall pick after he came off the board.

Considering the success they've had drafting defenders in Seattle, that's as good an endorsement as any.

Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo came aboard in the second round, selected 62nd overall. In Bill We Trust instantly was put to the test as the Patriots would seem to have more pressing needs than drafting another backup for Tom Brady.

However, Belichick didn't see it that way. Not with Brady set to turn 37 in July and second-stringer Ryan Mallett entering the final year of his rookie deal.

"With the situation we have at quarterback, I think that we felt as an organization that we needed to address that to some degree in the future," Belichick voluntarily said. "So we'll see how all that works out, but I think you're better off being early than late at that position."

The Patriots will spend the next couple of years developing Garoppolo in hopes that — dare we say — he can challenge a 39- or 40-year-old Brady for the starting job in 2016 or '17.

The knocks on Garoppolo are he didn't face the stiffest competition playing for Eastern Illinois. He's 6-foot-2, which is undersized for the position, has small hands, and a three-quarter delivery.

As for the positives, Garoppolo has a ridiculously quick release, makes good decisions, excels at play action, is poised in the pocket, avoids taking sacks, and completes a high percentage of passes.

Um, sounds a lot like you-know-who.

The Patriots' needs entering the draft were acknowledged to be the offensive and defensive lines, safety and tight end.

Unfortunately, safety and tight end were two of the thinnest positions in the draft. So rather than reach, they'll make do with what they have and hope to add some depth via undrafted rookies and unsigned veterans.

They took care of the offensive line by picking Florida State center Bryan Stork, Stanford tackle Cameron Fleming and Florida guard Jon Halapio. With their top three running backs on the depth chart all set to become free agents after this season, Wisconsin's James White, who doesn't fumble and does have excellent vision and patience, was brought in.

At the moment, astute moves all.

But three years from now, the Patriots would likely settle for batting .400 because they understand the NFL Draft is filled with misses.

The key is to make contact a few times.

And if it turns out to be Easley and Garoppolo, they'll have belted a grand slam with an aggressive approach in a risky game where there are few safe picks.